About us

The 7-day residential retreat will take place in the breathtaking Sacred Valley of the Incas, Peru, undoubtedly a magical part of the world high up in the sacred mountains of Peru. This retreat is a unique opportunity to experience the healing force of the Amazonian medicine ayahuasca in the comfort of a beautiful retreat center. Professional care and guidance is offered by a master curandero/ayahuasquero from Iquitos, a professional psychotherapist and a certified Holotropic Breathwork facilitator in a safe and contained set and setting. The focus of the retreat will be on deep inner healing, combining ancient Amazonian rituals and western models of healing to facilitate integration and transformation.

"A totally sacred, immersive, self
empowering experience. A highly personal journey towards a deeper understanding of who I am and my greater journey, held in a beautifully communal setting. The beginning of an exciting relationship with an authentic way of being, a new way of healing and a universal family to connect with."

Venue Highlights

The venue is situated close to a beautiful waterfall and right under the sacred mountain Pitusiray in the small town of Arin in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is a wonderful and peaceful setting catering mainly for spiritual retreats of different sorts. It is a place that is well suited for intense inner work within comfort.

About the
Venue and Teachers

Amazon Sacred Medicine is a healing practice that works in all dimensions of the being: physical, emotional and spiritual. We offer authentic Amazonian traditional medicine healing practices as well as Transpersonal psychology techniques. Our intention is to create a safe and professional container where this healing can be manifested. We have the necessary skills and professional training to offer this work in a safe and successful way.We are a small healing practice owned and run by the shamans and their families. We are based mainly in the Sacred Valley, in Peru. We are presently offering single night ceremonies and residential retreats. We also travel to different countries offering our work. The dynamic team includes a maestro palero and ayahuasquero from Iquitos, Peru and two professionally trained psychotherapists.Our intention is for every person participating in our programs to experience an authentic healing experience. Such an experience has the potential of changing lives. This not only brings about positive change in one’s own lives, but also in the lives of many others around one. These experiences have implications on many levels of being, impacting on the way one connects with oneself and in the way one relates to the universe.The name Amazon Sacred Medicine aptly defines our practice: we offer traditional Amazonian ayahuasca ceremonies within the Achuar and Mestizo lineages. In addition, we offer individual healing sessions within the boundaries of Amazonian Traditional medicine for many physical and psycho-spiritual ailments. These healing sessions include methods of diagnosis, treatment and the use of medicinal plants. In addition we offer weekly integration groups for participants of our ceremonies as well as online post-ceremony psychotherapeutic support.We work integratively with transpersonal psychology in order to make Amazonian medicine available and translatable to the Westerner participant. We strive to equip every participant with the tools to be able to relate to his or her experience and by means of these tools integrate these experiences into a meaningful part of his/her life.We believe that Amazonian traditional medicine can be an effective solution to many of the ailments of modern times and that these rituals need to be available to people looking for effective healing, change and transformation. The Mission of Amazon Sacred Medicine is threefold– To preserve and promote the sacred rituals of Amazonian traditional medicine with integrity and respect for the traditions.– To create a safe, supportive and ethical space, where our participants can benefit from authentic healing experiences.– To inspire our participants for the reconnection to our highest Self, awakening the Divine spark within us all.We look forward to hearing from you!

Frank is an Amazonian maestro palero and maestro ayahuasquero. He works from a small place in Iquitos where he specializes in healing people in his community with the help of his spiritual guides and the medicines of the forest. He is also the co-founder of Amazon Sacred Medicine, working with healing retreats in the Sacred Valley, Peru and other international destinations. Although young, Frank is considered a strong shaman and a skilled traditional Amazonian doctor, healing many illnesses of body and spirit.Frank was formally initiated at age 9, and started his dietas when he turned 12 years old. He was initiated by his uncle and subsequently met other teachers who helped him specialize in his knowledge. Frank has spent extended periods in isolation and fasting (shamanic dietas) as part of his training. When he was 15 years old, he spent 6 months on his own deep in the forest. This is where his intimate knowledge of the plants from the jungle crystallized. He has dieted countless trees and plants as part of his training.He was chosen by his ancestors to carry their lineage. His great grandfather, whom he never met in person, guided him in spirit step-by-step throughout his training. He then met other Spirit teacher, bringing a new dimension to his work. With the help of these Spiritual Doctors, Frank is able to heal difficult cases of sorcery and negative energy, as well as heal many illnesses.He is most committed to live the path of medicine, always respecting the restrictions required. His real passion is being of service and witnessing people being healed. Humble, courageous and determined are key words in describing Frank.

Carlos Hernandez is a Mexican curandero and his work is inspired by his love of the Divine and of Nature. Carlos is the co-founder of Amazon Sacred Medicine running retreats in the Sacred Valley, Peru and other international destinations.Carlos’ work could be summarized as a mixture of Amazonian traditional healing and transpersonal psychology, focused on direct experience. Having formally studied in these two sciences, he holds a deep understanding of the human psyche and the way healing takes place.Carlos is a certified facilitator in Holotropic Breathwork, trained directly under the supervision of Stanislav Grof and Tav Sparks. In addition Carlos is a professional psychotherapist that holds a Master of Arts degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Carlos’ shamanic training started with a formal apprenticeship of 4 years in the forest near Iquitos, Peru starting in 2006. During this training he lived in the Amazon forest for 2 years. For the next 6 years after completion of his apprenticeship, Carlos continued with his training under the tutelage of Golbert Grandez Taminche. During this time Carlos was able to deepen his skills and build a successful healing practice based mainly in South Africa. Carlos currently works with Frank Rocha, who is his friend and a co-founder of Amazon Sacred Medicine.

Elizma was born and raised in South Africa. Elizma is a co-founder of Amazon Sacred Medicine and the Director of Psychological Services and Integration. She is a professional psychotherapist and has been working in the mental health field for 14 years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in psychology from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and a Master of Arts degree in Somatic Psychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Her clinical experience includes working psychotherapeutically with children, adolescents, couples, adult individuals, groups and families. She also has specialist experience in the fields of addiction, emergency psychiatric services and group retreats.She has been participating in ceremonies of ayahuasca since 2006. In 2009 she spent intensive time in the Amazon forest near Iquitos, Peru being initiated into the healing practices of Ayahuasca and other plant medicines. It is during this time that she started questioning the efficacy of the models of western psychotherapeutic practices. She started seeing healing take place faster and with much more depth than healing over many years of psychotherapy in an office.This sparked off the desire to learn more about the therapeutic use of ayahuasca and how to bridge the gap between western models of psychology and sacred ayahuasca rituals. Since 2010 she has been assisting her husband, Carlos, in facilitating group retreats of ayahuasca.

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